Apparatus for applying lubricant to the surface of an endless conveyer



Aprll 10, 1951 A l.. w. PECK 2,548,739

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LUBRICANT To THE SURFACE oF AN ENDLEss coNvEYER Filed Dec. 25, 1949 Patented Apr. 10, 1951 UNITo s'rnrss APPARATUS FSR APPLYING LUBRECANT T0 THE SURFACE 0F AN ENDLESS'CNVEYER Lawrence W. Peck, St. Louis, Mo., assigner to Pecks Products Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application December 23, 1949, Serial No. 134,725

3 Claims. i

This invention relates to apparatus for applying lubricant to the surface of an endless conveyor, and, more particularly, to apparatus of this class for applying a foamy lubricant.

In brief, the invention comprises a liquid lubricant reservoir or fountain and a. hollow lubricantapplying roller having a perforated cylindric periphery journalled to engage the surface of and be rotatedby an endless conveyor'. Movement of the conveyor causes rotation of the roller and Vtransfer of lubricant from the fountain to the surface of the conveyor. With the perforated roller, the exact lubrication requirements are supplied regardless of conveyor speed and the formation and deposit of foam on the surface of the conveyor prevented. The presence of foam is undesirable, particularly when the conveyor is ernployed for such a purpose as carrying labeled bottles, for the reason that foam will progress up the sides of the bottles and damage the labels. The perforated roller construction of the invention prevents the formation and deposit of foam by breaking the liquid suction otherwise created by conventional, smooth type dispensing rollers.

Other features will be in part'apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, arrangements of parts which will beexemplied in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will `be 'indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. l is a side elevation showing the lubricating apparatus of this invention in association with a conventional endless-chain type conveyor;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the lubricator per se; and,

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

In some conveyor installations, it is desirable to lubrlcate the article-carrying surface of the conveyor so that relative slippage may readily occur between the conveyor and articles carried thereon as when movement of the latter is prevented. For example, in bottling works it is cornmon practice to deliver the bottles on a flat surfaced conveyor from the capping machine to a packaging point where the bottles engage a gate. When the bottles reach the gate, they stop and bunch up, thereby permitting the packing Worker to'work relatively intermittently with respect to the non-varying rate of output from the capping machine. Possibility of bottle damage at this point is minimized by means of a thin lm of lubricant applied over the surface of the conveyor, thereby permitting the conveyor readily to slip past underthe bottles.

Referring now to Fig. .l of the drawing, there is showna typical conveyor section installation of .the endless-chain type. A conveyor chain i is stretched upon a pair of rollers or sprockets 3 at vopposite ends of a framework 5. The chain may be formed, for example, of flat plates 5 linked together to provide a relatively at, smooth surface along the upper reach 'i of the conveyor. The framework vincludes a pair of longitudinal guide rails S positioned over the upper reach ofthe conveyor and longitudinal conveyor supporting runners such as angle irons i i. Articles are carried upon the reach l of the conveyor chain, being guided thereon bythe guides i?.

.Liquid lubricant is supplied to the Surface of the conveyor at a point in the lower reach thereof by a lubricant-applying.apparatus of this invention generally designated i3. lThis Ais shown to comprise a lubricant reservoir or fountain l5 having parallel sidewalls Il, end walls I9 and a bottom El. Posts 23 extend upwardly from the .side walls ril for .attachment to longitudinal jbracesii of the conveyor framework.

A lubricant-applying roller 2l is journalled within the fountain in a position to have the upper'portion thereof engage the downwardly facing surface of the lower reach 29 of the conveyor. The lower reach 23 of the conveyor is somewhat loose so that it engages the roller over a substantial arc. This arrangement provides adequate frictional engagement between the roller and conveyor to insure rotation of the roller upon movement of the conveyor.

The roller 2l is of hollow cylindrical form. Its

width of the conveyor. For example, a rollerv i 5 inches in diameter may have circular perforations 4| of 1/2 inch diameter arranged in peripheral rows, the spacing between apertures in a row being 1A; inch. The peripheral rows may be arranged with about inches between centers thereof in an axial direction. It will be noted the apertures are staggered about the periphery of the roller for even application of lubricant and are larger than the thickness of the sheet metal.

In operation, movement of the conveyor causes rotation of the lubricant-applying roller. Lubricant is picked up from the fountain and is transferred to the downwardly facing surface of the conveyor as the lower reach thereof passes over the roller. The lubricated surface then passes around the conveyor sprockets 3 to the upper article-carrying reach of the conveyor. A portion of the lubricant passes to the joints of the conveyor chain, and a portion remains on the article-carrying surface to make it slippery. Thus, if the articles carried by the conveyor should engage a xed obstruction, the conveyor may continue to move with easy slippage between the conveyor and the articles resting thereon.

The above-described perforated roller construction is particularly advantageous for use in conjunction with bottle conveyors where liquid soap is used as a lubricant because of its sterilizing characteristics. Smooth-type imperforate rollers create a suction which results in a tendency to throw lubricant onto the conveyor. If liquid soap is thrown onto the conveyor, foam is formed which will progress up the side of bottles on the conveyor and damage labels. However, the perforated roller construction disclosed herein breaks the liquid suction thereby preventing foam formation. It is preferred that the end walls as well as the periphery of the roller be interrupted by perforations in order to prevent foaming. Y

Also, the staggered perforations inhibit lubricant from running off the roller prior to its application to the conveyor. This feature provides greater reliability regardless of speed variations of the conveyor and lubricator roller. It will be noted in this connection that the roller automatically adjusts itself to the speed of the conveyor and is operative only when the conveyor is operative.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

I claim:

1. The combination of an endless conveyor having a flat article-carrying upper reach and a lower reach; a lubricant fountain mounted beneath the lowel` reach of the conveyor for a lubricant subject to foaming; and a lubricant-applying roller journalled in the lubricant fountain in position for engagement with the downwardly facing surface of the lower reach of the conveyor, said roller being hollow and having a perforated cylindric wall, the perforations being larger than the thickness of the wall.

2. `The combination of an endless conveyor having a fiat article-carrying upper reach and a lower reach; a lubricant fountain mounted beneath the lower reach of the conveyor for a lubricant subject to foaming; and a lubricant-applying roller journalled in the lubricant fountain in position for engagement with the downwardly facing surface of the lower reach of the conveyor, said roller being hollow and having perforated cylindric and end walls, the perforations being larger than the thickness of the walls.

3. The combination of an endless bottle conveyor having a flat bottle-carrying upper reach and a lower reach; a lubricant fountain for a liquid soap mounted below the lower reach of the conveyor; and a lubricant-applying roller journalled in the lubricant fountain in position for engagement with the downwardly facing surface of the lower reach of the conveyor, said rollei` being hollow and having a perforated cylindric wall, the perforations being larger than the thickness of the wall.

LAWRENCE W. PECK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 897,258 Roberts Aug. 25, 1908 948,012 Goldsmith Feb. 1, 1910 1,724,137 Kirschbraun et al. Aug. '13, 1929 1,967,751 Goerlich July 24, 1934 2,357,679 Moench Sept. 5, 1944 

